RFA-1152-202 337 IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT MANJU SHARMA LAND ACQUISITION COLLECTOR CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE Present: Mr. Vipul Sharma, Advocate, Ms. Neha Dewan, Advocate, Mr. Amit Gupta, Advocate, Mr. Chirag Kundu, Advocate, Mr. Amit Jain, Advocate appellant Mr. Abhinash Jain, DAG, Haryana. HARKESH MANUJA, A batch of whereof are given on the foot of the judgment) shall stand disposed of by this common order, as they involve common question of law and facts. For convenience, the facts are being taken from RFA 2025. [2] The landowners, by instituting the present appeal preferred under Section 54 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (for short “the Act”), are seeking modification of the award dated 16.03.2020 passed by learned Additional District Judge, Faridabad (hereinafter as “Reference Court”) for enhancement of compensation amount. [3] In pursuance to Haryana Govt. Notification under Section 4 of the Act issued on 04.07.2011, followed by Notification dated 2021 along with other connected cases IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH RFA-1152- Date of Decision: MANJU SHARMA Versus LAND ACQUISITION COLLECTOR, FARIDABAD HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE HARKESH MANUJA Mr. Vipul Sharma, Advocate, Ms. Neha Dewan, Advocate, Mr. Amit Gupta, Advocate, Mr. Chirag Kundu, Advocate, Mr. Amit Jain, Advocate for the appellant(s)/landowner(s)/respondent(s) Mr. Abhinash Jain, DAG, Haryana. **** HARKESH MANUJA, J. (ORAL) A batch of 13 connected Regular First Appeals (details whereof are given on the foot of the judgment) shall stand disposed of by this common order, as they involve common question of law and For convenience, the facts are being taken from RFA he landowners, by instituting the present appeal preferred under Section 54 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (for short “the Act”), are seeking modification of the award dated 16.03.2020 passed by learned Additional District Judge, Faridabad (hereinafter as “Reference Court”) for enhancement of compensation amount. In pursuance to Haryana Govt. Notification under Section 4 of the Act issued on 04.07.2011, followed by Notification dated along with other connected cases 1 IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH -2021 and connected cases Date of Decision: August 07, 2025 ........Appellant , FARIDABAD AND ORS. ......Respondents HARKESH MANUJA for the (s)/landowner(s)/respondent(s). Mr. Abhinash Jain, DAG, Haryana. connected Regular First Appeals (details whereof are given on the foot of the judgment) shall stand disposed of by this common order, as they involve common question of law and For convenience, the facts are being taken from RFA-1152- he landowners, by instituting the present appeal preferred under Section 54 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (for short “the Act”), are seeking modification of the award dated 16.03.2020 passed by learned Additional District Judge, Faridabad (hereinafter to be referred as “Reference Court”) for enhancement of compensation amount. In pursuance to Haryana Govt. In pursuance to Haryana Govt. Notification under Section 4 of the Act issued on 04.07.2011, followed by Notification dated and connected cases August 07, 2025 s connected Regular First Appeals (details whereof are given on the foot of the judgment) shall stand disposed of by this common order, as they involve common question of law and - he landowners, by instituting the present appeal preferred under Section 54 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (for short “the Act”), are seeking modification of the award dated 16.03.2020 passed by to be referred In pursuance to Haryana Govt. Notification under Section 4 of the Act issued on 04.07.2011, followed by Notification dated TEJWINDER SINGH 2025.08.14 01:02 I agree to specified portions of this document RFA-1152-2021 along with other connected cases 2 02.07.2012 under Section 6 thereof, the land measuring 12.64 acres, including the land of appellant(s), situated in the revenue estate of Village Basewala, Tehsil & District Faridabad, was acquired. The public purpose for acquisition of the land was stated to be Development & Utilization of Master Plan Roads of Sectors 75 to 89, Faridabad. The Land Acquisition Collector, Urban Estate, Faridabad, Haryana (for short “LAC”), vide Award No. 11, dated 20.05.2013, assessed the market value of acquired land @ Rs. 60,00,000/- per acre alongwith other statutory benefits. [4] Dissatisfied with the aforesaid Award, landowners/interested persons filed objections under Section 18 of the Act, which was decided vide award dated 16.03.2020 by learned Reference Court, whereby the market value of the acquired land was enhanced/assessed @ Rs. 3400/- per square yard, besides granting statutory benefits. [5] It is pertinent to mention here that the matters pertaining to the enhancement were decided by Single Bench of this Court vide judgment dated 31.10.2023 in RFA-112 of 2019 titled as “State of Haryana Vs. Ashok Kumar” whereby the market value for the acquired land with regard to the notification dated 04.07.2011 pertaining to Village Basewala was fixed @ Rs. 5,633/- per square yard. [6] It is contended by learned counsel for the appellant(s) that present appeals are squarely covered with the judgment of Ashok Kumar’s case (supra), which arises out of the same notification vide which the land of appellants was acquired. [7] Learned State Counsel is not in a position to controvert the factual aspect that the main appeal is covered in terms of judgment of Ashok Kumar’s case (supra); however, opposes payment of interest TEJWINDER SINGH 2025.08.14 01:02 I agree to specified portions of this document RFA-1152-2021 along with other connected cases 3 for the period, the appellants failed to approach this Court after the decision of Reference Court. [8] I have heard learned counsel for the parties and gone through the paper-book. [9] From the records, it is apparent that the present appeal is squarely covered with the judgment of Ashok Kumar’s case (supra), which is arising out of the same acquisition/Notification dated 04.07.2011 and pertains to the same revenue estate i.e. Village Basewala, Tehsil & District Faridabad, whereby the landowners have been held entitled for the enhanced amount of compensation @ Rs. 5633/- per square yard. For reference, the relevant paras of judgment dated 31.10.2023 passed in case of “Ashok Kumar’s (Supra) (at page Nos.16 and 17) read as under:- “[16] Now, the question arises as to how much appreciation be awarded to the landowners for the time gap between the two notifications? For the said purpose, at the cost of repetition, we can go back to the sale deeds produced by the landowners, which reflect that the price of the land situated in the revenue estate of Village Baselwa in the year 2008 was ranging between Rs. 4000/- to Rs.5000/- per acre; whereas the same went upto Rs. 6000/- per acre in the year 2011, thereby giving appreciation at the rate of approximately 20% to 25% per annum. Moreover, the discussion rendered by the Hon’ble Supreme Court in Banwari Lal’s case (supra) pertaining to the notification dated 14.08.2008 for Village Baselwa also reflects that while determining the market value, two sale deeds dated 28.12.2006 (Exhibits P-24 & P-25 in that case) were relied upon ignoring the sale deed dated 24.12.2007 (Ex. P-10) on the point of same being in close proximity to the date of notification under Section 4 of the Act in the said case, which was dated 14.08.2008. However, notification under Section 4 of the Act in the present case is dated 14.07.2011 and therefore, the said sale deed dated 24.12.2007 can even be taken into consideration and upon doing so, the appreciation between December 2006 to December 2007 also goes more than 25%. TEJWINDER SINGH 2025.08.14 01:02 I agree to specified portions of this document RFA-1152-2021 along with other connected cases 4 [17] Cumulatively, the land under present acquisition is situated in Village Baselwa having been acquired for development and utilisation for Master Plan Roads for Sectors 75 to 89, Faridabad for left out pockets. The acquired land is abutting the already developing Sectors 75 to 80, Faridabad, regarding which, the process of acquisition commenced vide Notifications dated 01.05.2006 & 07.02.2008, issued under Section 4 of the Act. In addition, the land from this very revenue estate of Village Baselwa also came to be acquired vide Notification dated 14.08.2008, issued under Section 4 of the Act for the same purpose, meaning thereby that at the time of notification issued under Section 4 of the Act in the present case on 04.07.2011, the same was already adjoining and surrounded by developed / developing residential and commercial area. As such, for the purpose of determining market value, the same having high locational and potential advantage needs to be treated as semi urban land rather than agricultural one. The appreciation about value of land in Village Baselwa between years 2008 to 2011 has even been reflected from the sale deeds produced on record which suggests an annual increase of 20% to 25%. Accordingly, taking everything into account, including the extent of land, forming part of the exemplar sale deeds being small, as compared to the area of present acquisition, an annual increase at the rate of 15% at compound rate appears to be justified in the facts of the present case. Resultantly, applying 15% annual increase at compound rate upon Rs. 3,704 per square yard for three years between 14.08.2008 to 04.07.2011, market value in the present case comes to Rs. 5,633/- per square yard for the land under acquisition, notified on 04.07.2011. The said market value pertaining to Village Baselwa has been calculated as under:- Sr. No. Description Amount in per square yard (Rs.) 1. Rate Calculated in the year 2008 by Apex Court in Banwari Lal’s case (supra) 3,704.00 Add: For the year 2009, annual Increase @ 15% of Rs. 3,704/- 555.60 Total 4,259.60 Add: For the year 2010, annual Increase @ 15% of Rs. 4,259.60 638.94 Total 4,898.54 Add: For the year 2011, annual 734.78 TEJWINDER SINGH 2025.08.14 01:02 I agree to specified portions of this document RFA-1152-2021 along with other connected cases 5 Increase @ 15% of Rs. 4,898.54 Total 5,633.32 Round off 5,633.00” [10] Based upon the above, applying the principle of parity, besides award of just and fair compensation, the landowners/appellants being similarly situated are held entitled to grant of similar amount of compensation as has been awarded to other landowners vide judgment dated 31.10.2023 in case of Ashok Kumar’s case (supra), alongwith all other statutory benefits and interest thereupon as provided under the Act. [11] Consequently, the appeals as well as cross-objections filed by the appellants/landowners are partly allowed; whereas the appeals and cross-objections filed at the instance of State are hereby dismissed. [12] Disposed off in the above terms. [13] Pending application(s), if any, shall stand(s) disposed off. 07.08.2025 (HARKESH MANUJA) Tejwinder JUDGE Whether speaking/reasoned Yes/No Whether Reportable Yes/No Sr No. Case No. Title 1. RFA-993-2022 (O&M) Rakesh Gupta V/S Land Acquisition Collector And Another 2. RFA-250-2022 (O&M) State Of Haryana And Another V/S Shweta Singh And Others 3. RFA-760-2022 Shweta Singh And Ors V/S State Of Haryana And Others 4. RFA-668-2022 Mukesh Bindal And Ors V/S State Of Haryana And Another 5. RFA-1152-2021 Manju Sharma V/S The State Of Haryana And Others TEJWINDER SINGH 2025.08.14 01:02 I agree to specified portions of this document RFA-1152-2021 along with other connected cases 6 6. RFA-793-2021 State Of Haryana And Another V/S Manju Sharma And Another 7. RFA-1308-2021 Sarvesh Bhan And Another V/S State Of Haryana And Others 8. RFA-797-2021 State Of Haryana And Another V/S Shashi Gupta 9. RFA-788-2021 State of haryana and another v/s smt. Sarvesh bhan and others 10. RFA-778-2021 State Of Haryana And Another V/S Mukesh Bindal And Ors 11. RFA-780-2021 WITH XOBJR-171-2021 and XOBJR-286-20 State Of Haryana And Others V/S Yogender Singh And ANR 12. RFA-4221-2019 Mahendri V/S State Of Haryana And Ors 13. RFA-3812-2019 State Of Haryana And Another V/S Mahendri And Another TEJWINDER SINGH 2025.08.14 01:02 I agree to specified portions of this document